Meet Metis…

A goddess of wisdom and a titaness. Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Mother of Athena and… Zeus first wife (not according to all sources, but I am giving myself the artistic freedom to claim this).

Metis was so beautiful it ensnared Zeus to claim her as his wife. As one of the Oceanids she had the ability to change into any form of animal imaginable. Zeus held onto her while she transformed into the entire animal kingdom in order to escape his grasp, but alas, no amount of beaks, claws or fangs could break Zeus’ hold on her. No form of feathers, fur, scales or slippery tentacles could evade his fingers.

And as Metis finally relaxed, Zeus carried his now wife back to Olympus and made her the Queen of the heavens.

After several good years of marriage - Zeus was happy, and Metis was settled in her new position - came a time when Gaia herself sought out Zeus to tell him about a prophecy that she had gotten about Zeus children with Metis. She would have 2 children.

One - Zeus first child - would be a daughter. A finer daughter no man could ever have from a wife, even one as magnificent as Metis. She would eclipse all other goddesses before her, in beauty and in wisdom. She would be a formidable fighter, and a brilliant artist. She would forever inspire the best of men and gods.

Zeus was pleased and he tugged his wife Metis hand. He knew then he had made the correct decision in making her his wife. Not only was she brilliant as the sun, but she was also forgiving of his wandering ways - the perfect wife for a man like him.

“And the other child?” Said Zeus to Gaia. “You said she would have 2”

Gaia nodded and told Zeus she would tell him later, when they were alone.

Later - when Zeus and Gaia were alone. Gaia told Zeus the rest of the prophecy.

“The second child Metis will have… will be a boy. A boy that will grow up to be a man like no other man before him. He will be a marvel. Celebrated and respected and worshipped. Not only for his power which will be akin to nothing she had ever seen before. He would become a god among gods. Not only powerful… but a kind and fair soul… one that would eclipse even Zeus…”

Her words were scary to Zeus.

Had he not also been prophesied to do all these things… Were he not also an eclipse of his own father before him… as his father had been before him…

Zeus… knew now why Gaia had wished to tell him this in secret… Gaia had wanted to spare Metis… and Zeus knew why… Zeus… as much as he loved his wife, could not accept that this prophecy came to pass. Sure the daughter she would bring sounded lovely and like a blessing, but… the son… his son… Zeus had no wish to be usurped like he had his father… so… Zeus had to come up with a cunning way to dispose of his wife… without… causing the vengeful spirits of the furies to haunt him for all time…

Unbeknownst to Zeus, his wife had heard it all in the shadows… and she… wise as she were… knew what the fates had in stall for her.

Later that night… after yet another wonderful lovemaking between the King and the Queen of heaven, Zeus told his wife that he was very thirsty… and asked her… if she would be so kind to turn into a droplet of water… so he could quench his thirst with her divine power.

Metis smiled, and said to her husband: “Only if you promise to cough me up in a few moments my love.”

Zeus promised and Metis turned into a form of water, and Zeus held her in his hand and gulped her down and since then… he would never feel thirst ever again…

His plan had worked… he had tricked his wife… for he never coughed her up again… he kept her down, and as times passed… he married again… this time he picked Hera. A dim reflection of his former wife, but… suitable.

Many many years later, Zeus was overcome with a splitting headache. He consorted all manner of healers who not only could not explain the source of the pain, but they had no remedy for it either.

Zeus tried everything, simply everything… but nothing worked.

In the end, he asked his oldest son Hephaestus to forge an axe that could cleve his head and let, whatever was in there out… since Zeus felt… like there was something in there… that wanted to come out.

Hephaestus, not wanting to be guilty of kin-slaying, first made his father promise not to hold it against him, and let it be done before all the pantheon so no one could call him into question.

Zeus agreed and then, as the axe was ready, the entire pantheon stood before Zeus as Hephaestus swung the axe over his fathers head and split his skull…

A bright and shimmering light bursted from Zeus’ skull and forward sprung first the helmet covered head of a woman… then followed her torso and her hips and her powerful legs.

As she lept forward from Zeus’ head she stood before the Olympians, who all were in awe of what had just happened. The cold and sharp stare from the woman in front of them nearly made them forget about Zeus, who was now sitting with an open skull in front of them.

Hermes jumped in and healed his father, as the rest gawked at the new goddess in front of them… for she was truly a goddess.

She turned to look at her father, and Zeus looked up at her. He saw Metis face… or a girl carrying her face… beauty incarnate… but a beauty that was so different than Aphrodites… a beauty that inspired awe and respect… not just carnal lust and sexual desire.

Her smile made Zeus smile as well. She held out a hand and Zeus took it.

“Hello father…” She said with a voice that could command armies to march to their death in pride and in joy. Zeus knew… Gaia’s prophecy had been fulfilled. A daughter unlike any other before her.

Zeus loved her. He loved her instantly. He loved her more than any of his other children… ah… save maybe Artemis, but… they could easily share the first place in his heart.

“Athena…” Zeus said. He knew her name before she had even said it. For that was her. Athena… the goddess of wisdom and war. A patron of the arts, and protector of intelligence.

But Metis… well…

She stayed within Zeus… and since she had been swallowed by her husband… he had been different… he had been wiser, less prone to the aggressive ways of his father and grandfather. He was… a changed man.

Metis had known her husbands ruse back then… and she had accepted that that was how things were meant to be. She took her precautions and when she gave birth within Zeus, she raised her daughter and installed all of her knowledge and most of her wisdom in her child… so Athena could be to Zeus, what Metis had failed to be to him.

And her other child… the son she was promised… well… Gaia had only said she would have a magnificent son… but… she had not specified that Zeus were to be his father…

Metis armed herself with patience… the prophecy had been foretold… and Gaia was never wrong… and the fates… could not be cheated.

One day… she would regain her freedom… as she knew the fate of tyrants like Zeus. Their end is never nice… it’s never in time… and it is never pleasant…

Her savior would come.

One day…

And one day… Metis felt how her flesh prison within Zeus were cracked open like a walnut, and she was hurled out of darkness and thrown through a vortex of light and colors… She landed on a field… and the hurl through the vortex had made her so dizzy that she fainted upon impact.

She slept… to the scent of wild flowers and fresh grass… She had never realized how much she had missed the ability to sense the world around her.

The sun was kissing her body, and she wanted only to sleep… but… like all who wished to slumber a little longer… the snooze button is more of a nuisance than an actual help.

She had to wake up…

So… she did…

Yours truly

Hammer